Friday December 20, 2019 & Saturday December 21, 2019
Friday Final: 5-4 Hawks
Saturday Final: 4-2 Hawks
What a difference a weekend makes!
First off, the best snacks of the season, so far, were brought and hosted by Judy and Jim Wiens on Friday night! They have set the bar pretty, pretty high, indeed. Thanks for the fantastic spread.
On the ice, our lads were in tough against the nasty, nasty Canucks. (I do not like that team and do not like the relative passivity of officiating when things have obviously gotten dangerously out of hand)
A little wrinkle took shape and it was the fact that the bounces and chances our opponents have been finding our net with, of late, were whizzing inches wide or being thwarted by Hall’s sensational saves. It was a very nice corner to turn.
Justl, #3, took a beating but made two stalwart plays to advance the puck to our forwards which led to break-out goals. Opperman was bullied, speared and beaten but did not succumb to the ill treatment and scored a timely marker to keep the Canucks off-balance and p*ssed-off.
But the star of the night was Sam Maxwell, #22, who knotted a hat-trick and was a terror to the Canucks all night.
We went to the net, took plenty of shots and looked like a much more confident and determined team than we had during our recent five-game slide.
To top it off, Joben Smith, #14, showed his flash of brilliance in the third and netted the winner with a brilliant solo effort that saw him speeding around the St. James’ defender and beating their frustrated goaltender. Hallsy made some great saves in the final minute with the Canuck’s net empty for the extra attacker and our losing streak was over. Shots were 50-29 for the Canucks…more gratitude to Hallsy!
Fast forward twenty-four hours and we found ourselves in the Morrisian barn of the league’s #1 team. After falling 1-0 in the first, we battled back and drew even, 2-2, at the end of the second.
#2, Hruska, finding his legs from a long time injured on the sidelines, was steady and solid on the blue line.
The third period saw us calm and focused and then Robinson, #7, sped through the Twisters’ D and almost potted the lead goal. A fine effort which, next shift out, saw him speed in again, pick up a rebound and bury the eventual winner.
We weathered two more short-handed situations and, with the Twisters’ net empty and time running down, Hall once again barred the door and gave us a chance at victory.
Max Fisher, #12, battled up the boards with seconds left, held off a rugged check and fluttered the puck into the empty net to pot his first of the season…getting that beastly monkey off his back.
We were outshot but not outworked and we had a celebratory bus-trip home from the flattest lands of Manitoba to rest for a dozen days (the big break) and to ready ourselves for the second half of the season.
A very nice conclusion to 2019 and a great building block toward 2020.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our Hawk families and fans!
– Fish